Artist interview with Kaleo and Elise Ching

Kaleo and Elise are very inspirational figures for me. They are doing almost exactly what I envision for my future. They have integrated art practices into wellness practices such as chi gong, guided meditation, ritual and transformative experiences. Sarah and I interviewed them together at their house. They were very generous hosts and their hospitality exceeded my hopes. They entertained and answered our questions for several hours. They also were perceptive and offered questions that we should address to one another (Sarah and I) They helped tailor the advice they gave us by asking us questions to help them understand our intentions and hopes for the future.

They advised us in embracing the spirit of mana aloha instead of using the word service. I loved this. I want to contribute to the wellness of people and society but I am also motivated to establish a means of living abundantly. To me that means being surrounded by good people having a beautiful home, plenty of healthful food and health-care. I was using the word service to describe the desire I have not to become caught up in an existence where my subsistence is dependent upon the ill health of others and in which my assistance to them is unattainable for a lack of money. Kaleo explained that embracing mana aloha (Hawaiian words that mean something to the affect of sharing or giving of divine kindness) will allow me to position myself not as a person dedicated to serving but one who is dedicated to sharing the goodness that I generate and that I receive. He explained that with time and practice we develop our own strenght of intuition that will guide the decisions about when to do pro bono work, when to give discounts and when to stick firmly to the fair fee system I develop

We also talked about teaching, about how to generate clients and about cooperating with a collaborator as he and his wife Elise do. I will listen to the conversation we had and write more later. We recorded the interview. I tried to upload it, but no... wrong kind of file.